Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images With Derrick Barnes likely to miss the entire 2024 season, how will the Detroit Lions fill the SAM linebacker role? That and more in this week’s mailbag. This week, we got the unfortunate news that Derrick Barnes’ IR stint will likely last the entire season. Dan Campbell noted on Monday that they’d be lucky to get the Detroit Lions linebacker back at any point this season. “I think we will be fortunate to get him at any point this year,” Campbell said. “I don’t want to say it’s not going to happen, but I think we would be pretty fortunate if it does.” That has left a lot of you wondering what the Lions are going to do to replace him. In Week 4, the Lions used the replace-by-committee approach. Alex Anzalone, Ben Niemann, and Trevor Nowaske all got a piece of the pie against the Seattle Seahawks, to varying degrees of success. The most common question we got this week for the Midweek Mailbag podcast was how the Lions will move forward with their plan. Both myself and Erik Schlitt offered our thoughts on this week’s show. The most likely scenario remains Detroit utilizing their top three healthy linebackers as much as possible: Jack Campbell, Alex Anzalone, and Malcolm Rodriguez. All three of those players are cross-trained at each position, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see any or all of them taking some SAM reps. However, one of the more intriguing options right now is Nowaske. The Lions only recently re-added him to the team, claiming him off waivers just before the start of the regular seasons. Nowaske was an undrafted rookie signing by the Lions in 2023, but when the Lions waived him to make room from injury returns late in the season, he was claimed by the Cardinals. Lions coach Dan Campbell has said several times now that they didn’t want to lose him last year, and they’re obviously thrilled to have him back. To take things further, Campbell said this week that Nowaske’s best fit in this defense is at Barnes’ SAM linebacker position. “That’s the role that we see him in is that SAM linebacker, some of the X on the third down position,” Campbell said. “So, I think yes there’s a place for him there and we just keep working with him. That’s the best way to say it. He’s still a young player, he’s a developing player, and I think the best way to answer.” But that answer clearly shows some hesitation to pencil him in as a starter. Nowaske is still developing, and given that answer from Campbell, it’s reasonable to wonder if there are other players higher than him on the depth chart right now. Myself and Erik debate who we’ll see out there in the next few weeks in that role on this week’s podcast. That discussion begins right around the 17-minute mark. Other topics on this week’s Midweek Mailbag podcast (in order of discussion): Are the Lions rushing Frank Ragnow back too quickly? Will Christian Mahogany make the 53-man roster after his 21-day window closes? Whose spot will he take? Will Brodric Martin be a regular contributor once he’s healthy? What is the process to the Lions find lesser-known players in free agency to add to practice squad? Where will the Lions improve the rest of the season? Where could they regress? How many times will Dan Skipper report as eligible vs. the Cowboys this week? Listen to the entire show below. Note: The written mailbag will likely be coming this Saturday. You can also catch the video replays of the show (with bonus content) over on YouTube or Twitch.